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Senate to forward expense files of nine Senators to the RCMP

The Auditor General’s two-year examination of current and former Senators’ books has flagged $976,627 in problematic expenses, tied to just a few current and former members. “I have followed the rules,” protests one whose file may be referred to police.

Then-Senator Don Oliver at a York University convocation where he received an honourary doctorate in 2012.
(Dominic Chan / The Canadian Press Images)

“We’ve committed to not question any element of the report,” Senate Speaker Leo Housakos told the Star in an interview, adding that he would have preferred that Ferguson be the one to refer his own findings to the RCMP.

The Canadian Press reported retired Liberal senator Rod Zimmer, one of the nine whose expenses were referred to the police, led the pack when it came to the amounts Ferguson said should be repaid. He had disputed expense claims totalling $176,014 in travel expenses for non-parliamentary business and a housing allowance he should not have claimed.

The Star has confirmed the audit to be formally released June 9 identifies a total of $976,627 in inappropriately claimed expenses, and that more than half that amount — about $546,000 — is linked to just five senators.

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That is the amount Ferguson found issues with following arduous, line-by-line reviews of 80,000 transactions worth about $180 million involving 117 senators from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2013.

“The weaknesses and problems uncovered in the course of this comprehensive audit of senators’ expenses call for a transformational change in the way expenses are claimed, managed, controlled and reviewed,” Ferguson wrote, according to The Canadian Press.

“Simply changing or adding to existing rules will not be enough. Improvements in oversight, accountability, transparency, and senators’ consideration for the cost to taxpayers are needed to resolve the issues that we have identified.”

Housakos said the 30 senators named in the report, including himself, have been sent invoices demanding repayment of the amounts in the report.

They are all being given the opportunity to appeal the findings through a new arbitration process presided over by former Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie, the results of which will be final and binding.

Several senators have already signalled their intention to dispute the findings.

That includes Zimmer, who The Canadian Press said provided a written response to the audit that accused Ferguson of appearing to be interfering in the trial of suspended Sen. Mike Duffy, where the issue of residency is central to the proceedings.

“Will this be seen as prejudging the conclusion Justice Charles Vaillancourt will reach on the same matter, and what if Justice Vaillancourt does not agree with the auditor general’s interpretation?” said Zimmer’s response.

Two sitting senators are among the nine referred to the RCMP.

Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, a victims’ advocate who helped the Harper government promote its tough-on-crime agenda, quit the Conservative caucus Thursday, confirming he would be subject to a probe.

The other, Sen. Liberal Colin Kenny, issued a statement Friday suggesting he would fight any allegations of improper spending and that his 500-word response included in the report “accurately reflects his views on the audit process and the findings that were reached.”

Also referred to the RCMP is the case of retired Conservative senator Gerry St. Germain, who emailed a statement Friday saying he was “exploring (his) options for dealing with these adverse, baseless and unsubstantiated accusations.”

Retired Conservative senator Don Oliver published a statement on his website that said: “The conclusions drawn by the auditor are not based on all the facts.”

The other four retired senators, all Liberals, the Senate referred to the RCMP were: Sharon Carstairs, Marie Charette-Poulin, Rose-Marie Losier-Cool and Bill Rompkey.

The three most powerful members of the Senate leadership — Housakos, Government leader Claude Carignan, and Senate Liberal Leader James Cowan — are among 21 other senators who Ferguson concludes should reimburse inappropriate expenses.

Housakos allowed a Star reporter to review the two-page section of the report referring to his own findings Friday, which concludes he should reimburse $8,139.

That includes $6,710 from his office budget for media relations and community outreach performed by a contractor Housakos had hired instead of full-time policy adviser.

The report says that while “most of the work performed by the contractor related to parliamentary business,” these particular activities listed on the invoice were not included in the original contract, which Housakos said was worth about $37,000 in total.

Housakos, who plans to appeal to Binnie, notes this was less than what it would have cost to hire a full-time employee.

The other $1,609 involves travel by a staffer related to a charity ball in Montreal, which Housakos said the staffer has already reimbursed.

Cowan is also planning to appeal to Binnie for just over $10,000 worth of travel claims for three trips to Toronto in 2011, which Cowan said were for parliamentary business and had been supported by the necessary documentation before being approved by the administration.

Cowan said auditors asked for additional information to prove he was there on parliamentary business, which he did not have, so Ferguson concluded it was private business that should be reimbursed.

“Maybe I should remember these things, but I don’t,” Cowan said Friday.

A staffer for Carignan, meanwhile, reimbursed about $3,000 in travel expenses flagged by the auditor in March.

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